


Time Of Your Life

by AlexIsOkay



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 03:10:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13538436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexIsOkay/pseuds/AlexIsOkay
Summary: Between classes, training, and missions, the students of Beacon Academy are never left with much free time. But when they are, Velvet knows those are the moments she'll remember forever.





	Time Of Your Life

“C’mon Velvet, we’re gonna be late.”

“Just one more! Please?”

“Alright,” Coco sighed. “But make it snappy.” She had underestimated just how long Velvet would be able to spend crouching down beside a flower bed trying to capture photos of it from every single angle imaginable, and she was already turning to start back off down the path they had been following before this detour had occurred. As she did so, though, she was distracted by a bright flash of light out of the corner of her eye. Looking back to where Velvet was standing, she then saw that her girlfriend’s camera was pointed directly at her.

“Did you just…?”

“You said I could take one more,” Velvet said, rolling up on the balls of her feet and looking quite proud of herself. “Didn’t say of what.”

“I obviously meant of the flowers,” Coco huffed. “Warn me when you’re about to do that. Give me a chance to pose or something.”

“But you look cute when you’re not expecting it!” Velvet insisted, bouncing over towards Coco with an extra little skip in her step. “See?” The picture she had just taken was already sliding out of the polaroid the faunus used when she wasn’t taking pictures for her special project, and after waving it around in the air for a few seconds Coco was able to look down and see her own image captured on the instant film. She was prepared for it to be entirely unflattering, but… Even with her back turned to the camera and her head tilted off to the side, it was still a nice picture. She supposed she owed that to Velvet’s natural eye for photography. She couldn’t remember ever seeing the other girl take a bad photo.

“Well, it would still turn out better if you actually let me know you were taking my picture,” Coco insisted, grumbling the words under her breath with a vague sense of indignance. Velvet just giggled happily, though, bouncing up alongside her girlfriend and wrapping her arms around one of Coco’s own.

“We can go now,” she said. “I promise I won’t take any more until we get there.” Coco felt a little bit bad about that, although they were supposed to be meeting their friends soon, and she didn’t want to keep them waiting. In retrospect, though, that was probably her own fault for not factoring in enough time for the numerous photo stops she should have been able to expect by this point.

This was the first time the two of them had actually gotten to go on a proper date in quite a while- which wasn’t to say they didn’t get to see each other very often. As teammates, they had no shortage of time to spend in each other’s company. Most of that time was spent training, though, or studying, or sitting up late because Velvet was tinkering with her holo-projector and Coco had foolishly thought it would be a good idea to drink a cup of espresso at ten pm. To actually be going out on a real, genuine, honest to god date like this, it was a special occasion for them. Coco was determined to enjoy every last minute of it.

The cafe where they had all agreed to meet up wasn’t that far from Beacon Academy, which was nice, because Coco had elected for style over practicality in her choice of footwear. Not to say she couldn’t still kick ass in a pair of heels, but it at least made walking slightly more difficult. Velvet, meanwhile, was actually wearing something other than her school uniform or her combat attire. The weather was warm enough for her to get away with wearing a cute orangey-brown sundress that had been stuffed into the back of her closet for far too long, and Coco was thankful for that: Velvet looked drop dead gorgeous at the moment. Coco had even told her as much, although that had only lead to Velvet going from being gorgeous to being adorably flustered.

As the two of them rounded the corner Coco could see the cafe they were heading towards, and she could also see that their friends had already arrived. Sitting there at one of the tables on the patio area were the familiar faces of four of their underclassmen: The members of Team RWBY. And from the looks of it, they were in the middle of a heated discussion.

“Well  _ obviously _ . But I’m just saying that if Zwei  _ could _ use a weapon-”

“He’s a dog, Yang!” Weiss objected.

“That’s not the point! We’re dealing with hypotheticals here!”

“Dumb ones!”

“I think you’re just upset because he would rather be running around with four tiny little Ember Celicas on his paws than a dog-sized Myrtenaster,” Blake suggested, causing Weiss’s ire to be turned against her instead.

“Why would I care about that??”

“You’re all wrong!” Ruby cut in. “Even if Zwei could use a weapon he wouldn’t! He’s a lover, not a fighter!”

Coco chuckled as she listened to the conversation unfold, approaching the table with Velvet still hanging off her arm. “You ladies up to something important over here?” she asked, causing four sets of eyes to look up towards her.

“You could say that,” Weiss muttered, shooting Yang a glare out of the corner of her eye.

“If Zwei were gonna use a weapon,” Velvet mused, finally letting go of Coco’s arm so she could slide a chair out and take a seat at the table with everyone else, “I think he would want something big and powerful to make up for his tiny size. I’m not sure he’d like what either of you two have,” she giggled.

“Hey!” Ruby huffed. “I thought you were gonna be on my side here! The only weapon Zwei needs is licks and sniffs! He's a good boy!” Coco rolled her eyes behind her glasses while she sat down next to her girlfriend, glancing down at the menus that were spread out on the table in front of them.

“You guys haven’t been waiting here too long, have you?” she asked.

“Any amount of time is too long when I’m stuck here with  _ her _ ,” Weiss replied. She shot Yang another glare, only to find Yang’s arm tossing itself around her shoulder and pulling her in closer.

“She doesn’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do. Get off me!” Weiss immediately started trying to pry herself free from Yang’s clutches, although it didn’t seem to be working out for her. Then, as if to provide some contrast between them, Velvet scooted closer to Coco, leaning right up against her side. Coco smiled, slipping an arm around the faunus’s shoulder while using her other to open the menu up.

“Gonna get coffee?” Velvet asked, leaning down into Coco’s field of vision. And once again, Coco chuckled softly.

“Am I really that predictable?” Her question was met with a smile and a nod from Velvet, who then sat back up and looked down at her own menu.

“But… I guess I’m not any better. None of you are allowed to laugh if I get the carrot cake!” she huffed, puffing her cheeks out and shooting a cautionary glare all around the table. Most of the girls didn’t seem to have an issue with it, and Coco was perfectly used to this by now, but Yang looked like she was just barely able to hold back a whole number of comments that were coming to mind now. She only managed to restrain herself through distraction, turning her attention towards her own menu and pointing a finger at it.

“Hey Weiss, look. They’ve got one of those giant parfaits here. Y’know, the kind that come with two heart shaped spoons? For  _ lovers _ ?” she snickered, leaning entirely too far into Weiss’s personal space for the other girl’s comfort.

“Great!” Weiss replied. “You can share that with Zwei, and I’ll be over here enjoying a  _ real _ meal. They do sell  _ actual _ food here too, you know.”

“I didn’t even bring Zwei with us…” Ruby whined. She had wanted to, and had been heartbroken when Weiss had informed her that restaurants didn’t allow animals.

“We could always go for that parfait instead, Velvs,” Coco suggested, lips curling up into a faint smirk as she looked at the item on the menu. Whether she was doing this because she actually wanted to share the dessert with her girlfriend or simply because she wanted to show off how sappy they could be in front of the others was unclear- probably some combination of the two.

“But… My carrot cake,” Velvet said, pouting up at Coco and letting her ears droop down against her head. “I’ve been looking forward to it…”

“Then it’s just you and me, Coco!” Yang slammed her hands down on the surface of the table as she said that, rising up out of her chair a bit with enthusiasm. “We can split one!”

“Are you trying to steal Velvet’s girlfriend?” Blake asked. “How’s she gonna feel about that?”

“Well if she won’t let me have my cake, Yang can have her.”

“True love, sunk by a sweet, delicious, carrot and cream cheese pastry,” Ruby sighed dramatically, flopping forward against the table and reaching her arms out towards Coco and Velvet. “I believed in you two! Love is a lie!”

“Chin up, sis!” This time Yang’s arm ended up around Ruby’s shoulders instead, tugging her closer. “Just because it didn’t work out for them doesn’t mean it won’t work out for me and Coco instead. Love isn’t dead yet!” The scene of sisterly bonding, comedic and exaggerated as it might have been, seemed to have captured Velvet’s attention, and a moment later, Yang and Ruby’s touching little moment was interrupted by the flash of a camera. Both of them immediately looked towards the source of the light, along with Blake and Weiss, and even Coco herself seemed a little surprised by it.

“Hey, what was that for, babe?”

“You told me I couldn’t take any more ‘til we got here,” Velvet replied. “But we’re here now, aren’t we? So that doesn’t apply anymore!” Coco blinked back at her girlfriend from behind her glasses for a few seconds before realizing Velvet was correct, causing a familiar smile to tug at her lips.

“Alright, you got me there,” she chuckled. “Everyone get in here. We’ll take one together.” Velvet’s face lit up as Coco gave her tacit permission to snap even more photos, and she quickly pivoted around in her chair so she was facing the same direction as the others, raising her camera to get the proper angle on them all.

“Make sure to get my good side!” Yang insisted, keeping one arm around Ruby and tossing the other back around Weiss. Something Weiss was quick to object to.

“You’re messing up my outfit! Give me a chance to fix this before you take a picture of it!”

“It looks the exact same as it always does,” Blake insisted.

“Don’t photograph me right now!” Ruby protested. “Can’t you see I’m mourning?”

“Wipe the frown off your face, sis! Smile!”

“Just give me two seconds to fix my jacket!”

“No time. Now, Velvet!”

“Say cheese!”

“Wait!”

Despite any further complaints Velvet snapped the photo, the flash blinding them all again for the briefest of moments. It only took a second or two for the photo to start printing itself from the base of her camera, and as it did so she tuned out the rest of the chaos around her, only focused on that little square of white paper. Bit by bit the image started to fade into existence, and Velvet smiled as she watched it take form. She could see her own cheerful expression, Yang’s exaggerated grin and Ruby’s similarly exaggerated sadness, Weiss’s indignant scowl, the faint smiles on both Blake and Coco’s faces as the two girls who usually kept their emotions so close to their chest let just a little bit more show through than they normally would, all immortalized in that single moment. All preserved forever, so she would never forget them.

When Velvet looked back up, the others weren’t there anymore. Neither was the cafe. The bright, warming sunshine was gone, replaced by the unsteady flicker of a particularly yellow light bulb, set into the ceiling of the otherwise dark room. The photo was heavier in her hands now, weighed down by the scrapbook it had since become a part of. It was set into the page alongside all of the other photos she had taken that day: the flowers, the candid of Coco, the picture of Ruby and Yang she had managed to sneak before anyone realized she had her camera back out, the various dishes they had all ended up ordering, one more of Coco because she had just looked so pretty when they were walking home around sunset and Velvet hadn’t been able to resist. They were all organized perfectly on the two-page spread, tilted to different angles and slightly offset in ways Velvet had found aesthetically pleasing when she had first been putting it all together.

Looking through happy memories was always such a bittersweet experience. It was nice to remember those times, to think about her friends and all of the wonderful moments they had shared together. But every memory was just that: a memory. This wasn’t her life anymore, and it hadn’t been for months. It had all ended far too soon, and every time she saw these photos, there was a part of Velvet’s heart that couldn't stop itself from aching. She missed those days.

“Velvet, I brought home dinner.” The sound of Coco’s voice and the door creaking open snapped Velvet out of her thoughts, and she quickly scrambled to stuff the scrapbook under her blanket and out of view. It was a little late to hide what she had been doing, though, and as Coco stepped into their bedroom, Velvet could tell, even behind the sunglasses, that she had seen. The expression that flickered across Coco’s face seemed to convey the same conflicting mixture of emotions Velvet herself had been feeling, but eventually she let a soft smile cross over her lips as she started to walk towards the bed. “Looking through old pictures again?”

“Um… Yeah,” Velvet admitted, sheepishly pushing the blanket back and taking the scrapbook out again as she realized it was foolish to try to pretend otherwise at this point. “I guess so.”

“Which ones?” After asking the question Coco dropped down onto the edge of the bed right beside Velvet, scooting up against her girlfriend and peering down at the book over her shoulder. Still seeming somewhat hesitant, Velvet opened the book up to the page she had been looking at a moment prior, allowing Coco to see all the photos contained within.

“Do you remember this day?” she asked, fingers reaching down and touching against one of the shots she had taken of Coco. “At the cafe?”

“How could I forget? You looked so pretty in that dress, I thought I was about to have a heart attack the first time I saw you.” Vevlet’s face flushed red, and her ears pressed themselves flat against her head as she shrunk down a bit.

“Coco…”

“That was the same day Yang nearly beat up the waiter because she thought he was making a pass at her, wasn’t it?” Coco chuckled. “I’m surprised you didn’t snap any pics of that.”

“I didn’t want my camera to get damaged,” Velvet murmured. Coco just laughed again, eyes scanning over the pictures for a few more seconds before they moved onto Velvet herself. And when they did, a deep frown set in on Coco’s face almost immediately.

“Hey… You feeling okay?” she asked. “You look down.”

“Yeah,” Velvet quickly replied. “I’m fine. Just… I miss them, I guess.” Velvet fell silent after that, and at first Coco wasn’t sure what to say either. She lifted an arm, placing it gently around Velvet’s shoulders and moving a little bit closer still.

“I do too,” she eventually replied. “I miss everyone from back at Beacon… Gets kinda lonely without them, huh?” Velvet nodded, and now it was her own turn to wait for a few seconds before she spoke.

“Do you think… They’re all doing okay? Do you think they’re safe?”

“They are. I’m positive.” That was something Coco was able to say without a moment of hesitation. “They’re some of the strongest people I’ve ever met. Wherever they ended up, I’m sure they’re doing just fine.” Velvet nodded in agreement, but judging from the way nothing else about her demeanor changed, she didn’t seem entirely convinced. Coco sighed, reaching down to move Velvet’s hand out of the way and slowly close the scrapbook before trying again. “Have a little faith in them, alright? What do you think Yang would say if she knew you were sitting around worrying about her like this?”

“Probably… She would tell me not to.”

“And?” Coco urged.

“And she’d say something like… ‘It’ll take more than a couple scrapes and bruises to keep me down!’”  Velvet suggested, dropping her accent a little bit as she did her impression. As soon as she was done she laughed softly, suddenly feeling a touch self-conscious about how goofy she must have sounded. But Coco just grinned.

“And what about Weiss? What would she tell you?” Velvet sat up straighter, imitating Weiss’s rigid posture before launching into her best impression of the other girl’s voice.

“You were seriously worried about me?” she scoffed. “I should actually be offended if you really think I would die  _ that _ easily.”

“Blake?”

“I’ll be alright,” Velvet said, her voice slipping into a soft monotone. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

“And Ruby?”

“Don’t worry about us!” Velvet went on, voice turning squeaky and high-pitched. “We’ll be fine! So just focus on yourself, okay?” Velvet was only able to get through that one last voice before she started to crack up, now fully aware of just how silly she must have sounded. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and Coco wasn't sure if they were from the laughter or the weight of their conversation. But even if it was bittersweet, Velvet seemed happy. And seeing Velvet seem genuinely happy made Coco’s heart beat just a little bit faster. It left Coco all too willing to laugh along with her.

“See?” she insisted. “None of them would want you to be bummed out like this because of them. So have a little faith in our friends, and trust that everything’s gonna turn out fine, okay?”

“Okay,” Velvet agreed, giving a nod that was much more firm and determined than her last one.

“Good. Now c’mon,” Coco urged, patting her girlfriend on the shoulder before she moved to stand up. “You don’t want dinner to get cold, right?”

“What’d you bring?” Velvet asked, hopping up behind Coco.

“I grabbed a pizza on the way home.” The answer caused Velvet to scrunch up her face, draping her arms around Coco’s shoulders from behind.

“Baaabe,” she scolded, flopping forward and hanging off her girlfriend. “You know that’s not healthy.”

“It’s one pizza. I think we’ll be alright.” Given that she was already supporting half her girlfriend’s weight anyway, Coco stopped for a moment, and, in one surprisingly swift and fluid motion, crouched down to wrap her arms around the backs of Velvet’s knees, scooping her legs up off the floor. Velvet squealed as her footing was pulled out from underneath her, clinging to Coco even more tightly as she was lifted up piggyback style.

“Hey!” she protested, in between bouts of startled laughter. “Warn me when you’re about to do that!”

“Nah,” Coco replied, starting to march her girlfriend towards their kitchen, and towards their waiting meal. “You look cute when you’re not expecting it.”


End file.
